


The Dragon of Mitakihara (Proof of Concept)

by Darkbeetlebot



Series: Ideas for Madomagi series [6]
Category: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Crack Treated Seriously, F/F, Gangs, One Shot, Redemption, Stereotypes, Work In Progress, Yuri, proof of concept
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-18 15:54:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28869606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkbeetlebot/pseuds/Darkbeetlebot
Summary: In today's alternate universe, Homura Akemi is an anime-style delinquent who even adults fear. After being kicked out of multiple schools and forced to go to the same school as Madoka and her friends, Madoka makes it her mission to reform this girl with The Power of Friendship(TM). Will she succeed? We'll find out if this ever gets a full story!You guessed it, this is a proof of concept. As of right now, it will only contain maybe one or two chapters to give a general idea of what it will be about. This is not a complete story. It may be continued in the future with enough popular demand.
Relationships: Akemi Homura/Kaname Madoka
Series: Ideas for Madomagi series [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1304135
Comments: 4
Kudos: 29





	The Dragon of Mitakihara (Proof of Concept)

It was set up to just be a normal monday at Mitakihara Middle School. That is, until Madoka heard the news from Sayaka, who had just gotten it passed down to her from the rumor mill.

“Hey, hey,” she pesters, having slammed her hands down on Madoka’s desk in sheer excitement “did you hear about the new transfer student we’re supposed to be getting!?”

“E-Eh?” Madoka is taken aback, but that’s quickly alleviated when she remembers the dream she had last night about this very situation. A new transfer student: A meek ravenette in glasses with a speech impediment: cutest thing she had ever seen. Extremely huggable.

But her hopes are quickly dashed away by Hitomi butting in to add details, “What are you two doing!? You need to be preparing!”   
  
“Hitomi? What’s wrong?” Sayaka asks.

“You don’t even know who the new student is, do you?” she guesses on the nose. Sayaka “uh”s on for a few seconds before Hitomi continues, “It’s  _ Homura Akemi! _ ”

“Who?” Sayaka asks cluelessly.

“THE Homura Akemi! That famous delinquent who got expelled from three other schools for running a gang!” Hitomi informs her, in as scolding a manner as possible.

“A gang?” Sayaka looks incredulous.

“Yes! She just kept starting new ones whenever her family moved! You’ve seriously never heard of her!?”

Sayaka shrugs, “Nope. Must not be THAT big of a deal if I’ve never heard of her! And I bet Madoka hasn’t, either. Right?”

They both turn their attention to Madoka, who is instantly frozen with anxiety and unable to speak. Sayaka interjects before she can, “See? Totally clueless.”

“You’re the clueless one!” Hitomi lightly smacks her forehead.

Sayaka takes it like a champ, enough to just carry on, “Well, why don’t you tell us, then?”

“Very well then, I will!” Hitomi clears her throat, “ _ Homura Akemi _ is known throughout every school in this city as one of the greatest terrors in any student body she inhabits! She starts gangs, picks fights with anyone who she doesn’t like, and isn’t even afraid of adults! She scoffs in their faces, and they say she even beat one in single combat!”

“Single combat?” Sayaka looks skeptical.

“Yes!” Hitomi insists. “They say she beat him with nothing but a bamboo sword and sheer force of will!”

“Haaaa??” Sayaka scoffs “What is this, the Edo period?”

“For her...” Hitomi clenches her fist and closes her eyes “...it may as well be! She embodies the very spirit of an ancient warrior, wielding her strength against anyone in her way!” She poses dramatically “Even older kids in High School fear her! Elementary schoolers worship her!” She looks sayaka dead in the eye “And worst of all, she doesn’t fight for anyone but herself. Not even her subjects are safe. She’ll cut them down without a word if they even think of crossing her!”

“Subjects?” Sayaka raises an eyebrow.

“Yes! I heard that she can even read your mind! She can smell things like fear, betrayal, pride, and greed!” Hitomi goes on, sounding almost like a raving fangirl if not for the tinge of fear in her tone.

Sayaka rolls her eyes, “Please, nobody can do that. Besides, if she’s really all that, how the hell has the district not banned her from everywhere?”

Hitomi comes close and whispers to her, “Supposedly, they’re scared to. Scared that if they do, she might become even worse than she is now, and try to take revenge on them!”

While those two are busy “discussing” the new girl, Madoka is sat in her seat, quivering like an anxious moth. The two notice almost simultaneously, what with her uncharacteristic silence, and Sayaka pushes back in response, “Whatever. If it’s that bad, then what are we supposed to do? Won’t she just leave us alone if we leave her alone?”

“Just keep your head low!” Hitomi tells her. Then she turns to Madoka and offers, “Madoka, I know martial arts. If you want me to teach you, just ask!”

“Yeah, and if she gives you any trouble, just tell me and I’ll beat ‘er upside the head!” Sayaka cockily offers.

Hitomi shakes her head and sighs. Madoka giggles in an obviously stilted manner, rebuking their offers, “I-It’s okay. I’m s-sure she just needs...needs a uh...friend!” Towards the end, she just stares down at her feet. “A r-real one...or something.”

Hitomi looks disappointed but understanding, “Madoka, you can’t solve some problems by being nice. This girl sent five kids to the hospital for messing with her hair!”

Sayaka butts in, “Next you’re going to tell me she wrestled a dragon and won. Hitomi, I know you love your gossip, but there are limits!”

“I haven’t even told you the craziest one yet!”

“I don’t wanna hear it! Especially not in front of Madoka!”

Hitomi pouts, “Fine. I’ll tell someone else, then!”

She’s about to leave, when Madoka stops her, “Wait! Hitomi, just tell us how not to make her mad. Okay?”

Hitomi sighs, “Of course. You should stay safe, after all.”

“Yeah.” Sayaka agrees “So what, are we supposed to just grovel at her feet and hope she doesn’t smite us?”

“Nononono!” Hitomi blabbers, waving her hands out dramatically “Not that! She hates that!”

“Well goddamn, it’s like we can’t win! Don’t grovel, die; grovel, die anyways!”

“Just...” Hitomi pinches the bridge of her nose “...Don’t make direct eye contact. If she looks at you, just look down. If she talks to you, ALWAYS reply! If she asks you to do something, don’t ask, just do it. Don’t gossip in earshot of her. Don’t bother her when she’s smoking. Do—”

“Smoking?” Madoka interrupts, then stands up suddenly “She’s too young!”

Hitomi is utterly floored, “Wh—!? How—!? Madoka, you can’t just...!”

Madoka gets flustered and sits back down.

Hitomi inhales sharply, “Okay. Don’t do that. Don’t ever tell her to do something. If you have to, word it like you’re asking nicely. And don’t — Madoka, please,  _ don’t _ apologize. No matter how much you feel like you want to, don’t do it.”

“Eh? Why not?” Madoka looks confused. “Isn’t that just nice?”

“She doesn’t like it! You have to abandon everything you think you know about talking to people around her! She’s straight out of a Sukeban manga!”

“Sukeban?” Madoka ponders, having read something like that recently and getting lost in thought about it.

At this point, neither of the other girls are surprised. Hitomi shrugs and sighs yet again, “Sayaka, please look out for her. I worry for her safety with a girl like Miss Akemi running around. She’s going to be spacing out one day and then — BAM!” she slams her hands on a desk suddenly “Bumps into her! What do you think will happen!? A dead girl standing!”

Sayaka dismisses it, “Whatever you say, Hitomi. Now stop giving her anxiety and—” Almost as if on-queue, the teacher comes in to take attendance. “Never mind. Come on, let’s get this over with.”

Everyone rushes back to their seats. In a minute, everyone is accounted for and the teacher goes on some nonsense tirade like usual. Madoka is too spaced out by Hitomi’s own nonsense to focus all that much, thinking more about that one manga she remembered. That is, until the announcement inevitably comes.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” Saotome giggles “We have a new student, today! I’m sure you all heard about it. Let’s all give a warm welcome to miss Homura Akemi!”

And in waltzes the queen. Unlike most stereotypical delinquents you’d think of who all have terrible posture on purpose, Homura makes strides like a runway model, flips her hair mid-step, and pivots on-point when she gets to the front of the class. The first thing that stands out is the extremely conspicuous guitar case slung onto her back. The second is the fact that she’s surprisingly obeying the dress code. The third is the bags under her eyes. And finally...

“Oh my god, she’s  _ beautiful. _ ” Madoka blurts out absentmindedly while everyone else is either ogling Homura or squirming in their seats like scared worms. Hitomi’s eyes go fucking  _ wide _ as she stares dumbfoundedly at Madoka. Sayaka gives her a side-eyed glance, and several other people give her a funny look.

Including the new girl.

Homura glares  _ directly _ at her. Were it anyone else, it would not be nearly as threatening. But being  _ her _ , the glare just screams, “The fuck did you just say about me?”

Fortunately, it seems that she may be in a good mood today, because she does nothing besides that. Madoka freezes on the spot when she notices what just happened.

Hell, even the teacher freezes in the middle of writing Homura’s name. But this manages to piss off the new girl even more than the sudden outburst, as she turns around and snatches the stylus right out of Saotome’s hands and finishes her name. Not just normally, but calligraphs it with a dramatic finish like she just finished writing a letter in the 1400s.

The teacher asks if she wants to share anything about herself, but just gets a  _ look _ before Homura slams the stylus down onto the whiteboard and strides towards her desk as if her reputation precedes her that well. Saotome doesn’t even tell her which seat it is, she just guesses and happens to get it correct: The desk in the far back-right. Otherwise known as the protagonist seat.

Having to scan the desk before it slowly pops out puts a bit of a cap on how cool her exit can be. But when it does, she does what you’d expect and slams the guitar case on the ground before kicking back in the seat as much as one possibly can with the bizarre-ass spines those chairs have.

“Can’t get a normal fuckin’ chair around this place for nothing.” she complains in her attempt to put both legs on the desk and failing to be in any way comfortable.

But nobody stares. They, in fact, actively avoid staring. The teacher herself just ignores it and goes on with starting homeroom in her usual way. Soon enough, everyone is free to resume socializing a bit before classes inevitably start. Within fucking  _ minutes _ , Homura has already amassed a clique of fanatically loyal servants who are all gathered around her. No telling how many of them know her personally and how many are just fans, nor how many are clout chasers. One at least: a girl who Homura literally picked up by the collar and dragged back into her seat like a misbehaving child. Anyone with half a brain could already tell that that girl’s social life was practically over from then onwards.

Hitomi, wanting no part of that, edges back over to Madoka and Sayaka to talk. “Hey...Madoka?”

“Yeah?”

“What  _ was _ that?”

“What do you mean?”

“What you said five minutes ago! Everyone was staring at you!”

“But...”

“Don’t get her attention!” she scolds.

Sayaka holds her back, “Hey, calm down! You know she can be a bit... You know.”

“Well I’m just trying to keep her safe!”

Sayaka crosses her arms, “I’m really starting to think you’re overreacting.”

Madoka can’t help but think,  _ “Isn’t this what she always does?” _

Hitomi looks pretty miffed, though, “Are you serious, Sayaka!? She already has a gang! This is just getting worse by the minute!”

Madoka sighs and stands up, “Hitomi, stop. You never know, maybe she doesn’t really want all the attention. I mean, they just kind of swarmed her, right? We should go say hi and see what happens!”

Hitomi’s jaw drops, “Say hi!? Say  _ HI _ !? Are you insane!? I don’t want to die today!”

“Hitomi...” she reaches out for her shoulder.

But alas, she jerks and runs away screaming, “I DON’T WANT TO DIE TODAAAAAAY!”

Neither of the two girls are surprised, and it shows on their faces. They both look at each other and nod. Sayaka tells her, “I can’t take on five people at once, Madoka.”

“Nobody’s going to fight, we’re just saying hi.” Madoka insists, growing a bit annoyed in her tone.

Reluctantly, Sayaka agrees, “Alright, I’ll be behind you.”

Madoka smiles at her the type of smile that would make you do anything for it. Sayaka can’t help but look away and grin, proud of herself. The two casually stroll over to Homura’s corner desk, approaching from the front.

As soon as they come too close for comfort (which is about five feet), one guy on the larger side who looks like he was already a troublemaker steps up to them and spits out, “Hey, the fuck you doin’ over here!?”

Madoka stops in her tracks and nervously continues to smile, “We just came to say hi.”

He looks utterly offended, “Say  _ hi!?  _ Nobody talks to The Boss except us unless it’s to beg for mercy!”

Sayaka scoffs, “One day and they’re already calling her that...”

He darts his attention to the offending tomboy and stomps in her direction, “Who do you think you’re talking to!?”

She scoffs again, “Good question...”

He looks like he’s about to pop a blood vessel. But before he can advance and try to jump at her, a paper football hits him in the back of the head with apparently enough force to make his head bend over. He freezes in place, slowly straightens up, and returns to the back of the group while apologizing, “Sorry, Boss...”

Homura, clearly the one who flicked the paper at him, apathetically assumes an ambassador pose with both elbows on the desk and complains, “You’re too loud.” She then glares at the two girls before her and commands, “Speak.”

Madoka still continues to smile despite her anxiety, takes a few steps closer and tries to get out the words, “Uh, well...I just wanted to say hi, since you’re new here and all, and... Uh...” She looks around, noticing that pretty much the entire posse is staring daggers at her. “Uh...” she stammers “I just hope we can get along. Would you like to... I mean, I can show you around if you want.”

She holds her hand out diplomatically, only to be met with silence and inaction. Homura stares at her open hand as if considering her options, then directly at her with her dark, baggy eyes that are coated in mascara to make them look even more sunken against her pale skin. All things considered, she looks like death in human form.

Her answer is, “I’m covered.” followed by completely ignoring a possible handshake. Madoka cautiously pulls back, but still lingers uncomfortably, smiling, for a minute.

And Homura keeps staring directly at her until they leave, and even a little after. Doesn’t say a word. Just stares directly through their souls for at least several minutes. During this time, Madoka returns to her desk and exhales deeply, “Oh my god, she’s a little scary.”

“You think?” Sayaka replies. “She’s creepy. I don’t like her.”

“Sayaka...” Madoka sighs “...you’re never going to get along with someone like her, like that.”

Sayaka dismisses the very idea, “Not like I’d want to.”

Madoka shakes her head in disappointment. By now, Hitomi has made her way back after realizing that she doesn’t want to be marked as absent, and that gives the other two girls the signal to get seated again in preparation for their usual classes which proceed to start very shortly.

They go by not quite as one would expect. Under stereotypical circumstances, one would expect the class delinquent to not be particularly well behaved or studied. However, when called on for the first time in the middle of their math class, she effortlessly manages to solve just about everything they throw at her. Much to everyone’s surprise and respect. When she goes to sit down as if it were nothing, she gets some applause from her obvious fanbase. Sayaka is clearly annoyed by this, Hitomi keeps her head down, and Madoka is left with far more questions than answers.

Pretty soon, it’s lunch break before they head off to PE. On a normal day, Madoka, Sayaka, and Hitomi would all go to eat up on the roof like a bunch of anime protagonists. One would also normally expect a bunch of delinquents to have their lunch in private, in a group, someplace where you could get away with shady dealings and fight clubs or listen to loud music.

This, however, is not a normal day. Instead of going with them, Homura tells her new groupies to fuck off while she goes out back. Madoka, eavesdropping, decides to follow her instead of going to their usual spot. Of course she doesn’t tell them what she’s actually doing, just that she needs to “go to the restroom first”. They don’t give it a second thought.

Either Homura completely lacks spatial awareness at times or she knew and just didn’t say anything, because at times Madoka thought for sure that she had been caught tailing her to the back of the school. But no, she actually succeeds. Somewhere behind the school, where the sun casts its lingering shadow over them, Homura just leans against the cold wall and lights up a “Never Knows Best” brand cigarette with a long sigh. A part of Madoka wonders how she could be so fit if she has this sort of habit. Or did she only start recently? Either way, it’s not good. She wants to step up and stop her, but finds herself lacking her earlier levels of courage. Especially with the warning she was given about this exact scenario.

At the same time, she doesn’t really see any boxed lunch around her. Unless she’s carrying it in that guitar case. But why would she carry it like that? And wouldn’t she have taken it out already? Is she waiting to finish? Of course, Madoka surmises that a lack of food is more immediately bad than a smoking habit, so she sucks up all of her nervousness and takes a stride around the corner.

“Hey—” she tries to speak, only to be immediately interrupted.

“Spare me. What do you want?” Homura asks in the most dismissive tone imaginable.

“I uh...” Madoka looks down at her own lunch “...I couldn’t help but notice that you didn’t have a bento, even though you came out here. Do you...have anything to eat?”

This makes Homura hesitate on taking a drag as she tries to understand just what could possess this girl to be not just so forward, but so friendly. Looking around inconspicuously, she replies in a hushed tone, “...Not really.”

“Well...” Madoka carefully considers her next words. If she gives this girl hers, will it come back to haunt her later? Will she think it’s a ticket to a free meal every day? Will it paint a target on her back? Will it endear her, and maybe garner some friendliness? Will she bother giving the box back? Just take it and tell her to scram?

All in all, it’s a risky move. But she decides to continue with hope in her heart, “...If you want, you can have mine. I can just buy some bread at the cafeteria, so don’t worry about me.” She holds it out with both hands.

Homura still seems hesitant to take the offering. So much so that Madoka feels the need to add, “You know, smoking isn’t good for you, but not eating is really worse, so...”

Slowly, Homura steps forward and slowly takes it from her without a word, only a brief nod and a stare that asks, “Are you crazy?” or something like that. She takes that as her cue to apologize for interrupting and immediately dart like a deer in the woods, leaving Homura to mutter, “...What?”.

When Madoka gets back to her friends, they inevitably ask why the hell it took so long and why she doesn’t have her bento. She feeds them a half-truth about some kid getting bullied out of their lunch and giving it to them out of pity, to which Sayaka responds, “You  _ would _ do that.” Hitomi pities  _ her _ and goes to buy her something from the cafeteria as planned, and the hour proceeds normally.

Then PE comes. If the mystery of Homura Akemi weren’t already vivid as hell, it became so here. She manages to clear the school’s historical record for high jumping in particular, and managed to pretty much top everyone in terms of physical prowess. People that normally excelled at this like Sayaka could barely touch her. The only thing she does even slightly mediocre is track, but that’s to be expected after what Madoka saw. Crowds assemble around her to applaud as usual, mostly more fanatics aching to kiss her ass or some such.

Even in the changing rooms when you’d expect some privacy, they insist on forming a protective membrane around her to prevent anyone from peeking a look, though it’s painfully obvious from the sheer gym uniforms that she is absolutely  _ jacked _ . Despite not wanting to really be one of the crowd, Madoka can’t help but find her eyes wandering.

For the rest of the day, she’d find Homura returning the favor, taking every opportunity to leer at her ambiguously. Her stare tells nothing of its intentions, as all of her moods apparently default to looking pissed off and tired. Every time Madoka catches her, she doesn’t let up, and Madoka is forced to look back away instead. At some point, Sayaka picks up on what’s happening but scarcely knows what to do about it besides a clearly bad idea of direct confrontation.

In the end, they can’t really do anything. And for whatever reason, Madoka refuses to go home together with anyone unlike usual. For them, the situation is frustrating and troublesome. But for her, it’s necessary thinking time. Thinking, specifically, about where to take things next. Clearly she can’t just  _ let _ this girl go around hurting others and herself, but how to stop it?   
  
_ “Is she just troubled?”  _ she wonders  _ “Do those people really like her? Do they really want to be friends, or do they just want to look good next to her?”  _ The answer, although it seems obvious, gives her pause in consideration.  _ “...Whatever it is, I think...” _ A sudden rush of confidence runs through her as she imagines the best case scenario,  _ “That’s right! I just need to be a real, good friend to her! Then, maybe...I can make her a better person. If nobody else will, if everyone else just gives up on her, I still won’t!”  _ She pumps her fist up,  _ “Yeah. Yeah! I can do this! But...” _ and the confidence quickly dies  _ “where do I even start?” _

She ponders this question as she makes her way home. Then onto dinner. And even in the dead of night, she’s still left speechless on the topic. Her mother came home late again, but she sees this as more of an opportunity than a hindrance. Once Junko is settled down at the kitchen table and eating that day’s leftovers, Madoka sits down silently and asks, “Mama... Say I wanted to help someone. And they made some past mistakes, and the people around them aren’t a very good influence. And maybe they never had a real friend before. What do you think I should do?”

Junko chuckles at her transparent attempt at a hypothetical, but entertains it nonetheless, “Madoka, you’re a good girl. You shouldn’t be getting caught up in bad crowds. But if you really think that type of person could change, just remember that you can’t make them. They have to do it themselves. Sometimes you just have to give them the tools and a big sign that says ‘dig here’ in big, bold letters.”   
  
Madoka giggles at the last part.

Then Junko goes off on a bit of a tangent, “I remember this one guy I used to work with. He used to be pitiful. Couldn’t stand up for himself, always got everyone’s work dumped on him so they could go drinking. I got tired of watching it and standing up for him, so I gave him some pointers and showed him to a good friend of mine. A doctor. Few months later, he’s eating a lot better, going to the gym, and for one reason or another, he got himself together enough to stop taking shit from everyone.”

She takes a sip of whiskey from a shot glass, “...Better than what everyone else did, going ‘You better shape up!’ or ‘Quit being so lazy!’ Couldn’t stand that...” she stops before she launches into a profane rant, for her daughter’s sake. “Point is, don’t force it. And anyone who tells you people can’t change...well, don’t listen to them.”

Madoka nods along, tired from staying up an hour past her usual bedtime, “Thanks. I’ll try that.”

“Ask your father?” Junko asks.

“Yeah. He said, ‘Just be nice to them.’”

Junko grins, “Just like him. Now you go get to bed, don’t want to be exhausted tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah.” Madoka agrees. She listlessly heads to bed, finally able to clear her mind enough to sleep, hopefully dreaming about the best future.


End file.
